Censors object to expletives in ‘Paan Singh Tomar’

Irrfan Khan starrer ‘Paan Singh Tomar’, that hit theatres this Friday, has already got some rave reviews from the critics. The biopic based on the life of a runner-turned-bandit has been portrayed in a very realistic manner but the director Tigmanshu Dhulia admits that he had to bow down to some of the demands of the Censor Board.

Dhulia desired a ‘UA’ certificate in order to have a larger audience base. But since the film contained a lot of explicit languages & cuss words, the Censor raised its objection. It could, in no terms, permit a ‘UA’ certification since it didn’t want the younger audiences to get exposed to blatant use of such verbal language.

Basically, most of the characters do not use undesirable explicit but the character portrayed by Rajendra Gupta, for instance, had the Censor officials sweating in discomfort. Dhulia, however, felt that he hasn’t crossed the line when it comes to explicit language. He argues that the character’s demand necessitated use of such a language and trimming it down would make the character very unrealistic.

Dhulia recalls a special scene where Irrfan visits Gupta and asks him to showcase his stock of ‘gaalis’. That scene, for instance, couldn’t have been done without inclusion of some explicit words and Dhulia had to battle hard with the adamant Censor officials to argue the point. Though he finally did get the desirable ‘U/A’ certificate, he had to scissor out some scenes & explicit conversation. As per the demands of the nation, he was also compelled to tweak the smoking scenes. However, despite some cuts and tweaks, he is happy to have received the U/A certificate since that makes his film accessible to even the below-18 community.

‘Paan Singh Tomar’ has been warmly received by both critics & the masses who are pleased with the gripping plot, engaging dialogues and impeccable performances.